JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – An American student arrested during protests in Cairo says he feared for his life after being taken into custody by five Egyptians in plain clothes.

Nineteen-year-old Derrik Sweeney tells The Associated Press that he and two other U.S. students captured by Egyptian security forces were threatened before being released Thursday.

“We were held for about six hours the first night in a nearly fetal position with our hands behind our backs, and they were behind us, and it was very scary,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney and the rest flew back to the U.S. on Saturday after an Egyptian court ordered their release.

Sweeney and his family celebrated a belated Thanksgiving dinner Sunday night in Jefferson City. He says he and the other two students arrested are innocent of all the charges.

He told reporters “none of the three of us held, prepared or threw any bombs, or even rocks, or did anything to hurt anyone or anything.”